christiane amanpour and candy crowley. all at the same table. the economy is climbing back. i'm christine romans. the economy is growing at the fastest pace since the beginning of 2012. driving growth? businesses. do they expect demand from consumers to surge and what happens if consumers are not buying? another critical sector to watch, housing. sales of new homes up 25% in october. the sharpest gain in 35 years. positive jobs numbers show the economy is healing. 203,000 jobs added in november. the u.s. on track now to create the most jobs since 2005. the jobless rate lowest in five years. stock market may have taken a breather, but it is a banner

year for stocks. 25% of americans hold three quarters of all stocks. many americans are more concerned where the next meal is coming from than the 401(k). fast food workers striking against poverty wages. the economy, jobs, minimum wage. that is the president's agenda for the next three years. alex is the business director and chairman of the economic advisers. also with me is a former adviser to presidential candidate mitt romney. austin, let me start with you. you look at the economic strength recently and you have to say with all of the asterisks, you see small businesses hiring and it is all pointing in the same direction. could washington screw it up?

where is the fly in the ointment? >> of course they could screw it up. i don't think we should get too far ahead of ourselves on this. we had positive reports, but they are not overwhelmingly positive. on some of those like the dramatic surge in housing, it is hard to believe that is going to be that sustainable. we will not go back to the go-go days of construction that were in the housing bubble. >> you say this is the slowest recovery on record. the economy is on track to create more than 200,000 jobs this year. does the president deserve this credit? >> the economy has healed itself. i agree with austan. i guess he would have a political incentive. the fact is i think we are at 3%. the december number is 250,000.

they cut government spending back. the revenues have come in, in part, because of the tax hikes which created less damage. the fact is washington getting out of the way is a pre-condition for the private sector. >> i'll let austan weigh in on that. 92,000 federal jobs lost overall this year. do you think washington in action and sequester is hurting holding back the growth? >> it is holding back the growth. i thought it would hold back growth more than it did. i think most of the private sector who look at the economy for 2013 say that the austerity and the fiscal drag cut at least

one point or almost two points off the system. i think austerity did not help the growth rate. >> i figured you would be opposite sides of the fence. >> 1% of the 1.5% is the tax hike. 1% of the drag this year out of the 1.5. >> i agree with that. >> meantime, signs this week that maybe i don't know, maybe the bailout -- automakers may be worth it. gm and chrysler, double digit numbers. treasury department planning to sell the last of its stock in gm by the end of the year. so interesting to me. do you think this proves what was first president bush and then president obama's bailout worked, austan? >> in a way, it did. we were facing the auto industry's big three at that

time because of financial system was shutdown. i don't think we should use that as an aspiration. rather than these are good investments the government should be engaged in. you see manufacturing coming back. some of that is based on cost and productivity relatively shifting to the u.s. of the more attractive place to do business. some of it is we had a lot of pent up demand. people have been driving the same car as long as they can drive it until the fenders fell off. you have to eventually get new cars. >> that is so true. kevin and austan, thank you so much. the american auto industry leaving the bailout in the mirror and thriving. we talked about the numbers. let's check out the flash. this is the new 2015 mustang revealed at the 50th birthday party. sleeker profile and more power and better gas mileage and

optional four cylinder engine. give me 60 seconds on the clock. it's "money time." one time poster boy for corporate greed was convicted in 2005 for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from his company. a $6,000 shower curtain. ready to binge on "turbo fast?" the streaming giant is releasing the series five episodes at a time during the holidays. all 12 episodes of "house of cards" will come out on valentine's day. how about a smart bra? microsoft is working on a bra that detects stress so you can avoid stress related overeating. norman rockwell's "saving

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reports from around the world. u.s. students are average in reading and science, below average in math. the u.s. came in 36 out of 65 developed countries between the slovak republican and lithuania. students in shanghai are more than two years ahead of the peers in massachusetts. the u.s. did better in reading, 24th in the world rankings. number one, shanghai again. science, the u.s. came in number 28 on that list. the top performer? you guessed it. shanghai, china. the u.s. will not get the most improved award. the u.s. fell in all three subjects from 2009 to 2012. u.s. education secretary arne duncan says it points a picture of education stagnation. is the u.s. falling behind or is everyone else getting better?

i sat down with candy crowley and christiane amanpour and asked why the u.s. is falling behind. >> what is the problem with education? we keep throwing money at it. the interesting statistics are that the u.s. spends a huge amount of money on education, it doesn't spend as much as other countries which are currently doing better on disadvantaged schools. in other countries doing better in the public education, they spend more money where it is more needed in the disadvantaged. >> a lot of the countries -- >> they spend more. >> they spend more time on the educational system. there has been a big movement to why are the kids out for three months where they forget everything? why are the vacations so long? anyone who had a kid in school said why are they off so long?

>> arne duncan says it is education stagnation. falling behind where the rest of the world is up. >> falling behind. >> east asian countries doing well. here's what's so interesting to me. companies complain the kids out of college don't have the skills. colleges complain that the kids coming out of high school don't have the skills. the defense complex complains they don't have enough american-born skilled math and scientists physicists. this is a american security issue, yet you find the paralysis on figuring out how to do it. >> there are great experimental things going on. the other conversation is do you really need college anymore? you have the opposite -- >> people have the conversation of a college degree. >> the answer is yes. >> you look and say yes, you do. there are only so many jobs and it takes a college graduate.

>> mark zuckerberg. >> exactly. that is where you can be an entrepreneur. bill gates and many of them actually dropped out of college or whatever they did and were able to use their brain power and hard work to harness an economy for the future. not everybody is bill gates or mark zuckerberg. i'm fascinated by shanghai is doing one of the best in education. we know in europe that poland is. to me, it seems these are the aspirational countries. these are the countries that want to punch above their way and join the developed world and economies. i'm sure the u.s. was like this 100 years ago. >> my grandfather said it is a phrase from the great depression. hunger is the best sauce. everything is better if you are hungry. these are countries hungry for success. they want the success the united states had in the 20th century. i want to defend the u.s. on the

rankings. shanghai is a slim slice and china wants to show its best students. some countries are not dealing in their classrooms that america is. >> the poverty. >> the diversity of students. >> it is cultural differences in students. geographical. >> there is nothing simple about finding the solution to this so-called education stagnation. some teachers are doing the best with the resources they have. others complain the increased in spending is not going to the right places. i worry who is being left out. the ones that fall squarely in the middle. it used to be if you were average, you could get a good job and eventually send a kid to college. despite the signs of the economy improving, more competitive than ever. our education system must keep up. coming up, nelson mandela's 70th birthday spent in a prison

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. nelson mandela, u.s. markets observed moments of silence for him on friday. here's the man after 27 years in prison who wound up working with some of the best minds in corporate america to raise money and change the way business was done in south africa. mandela garnered more international support and admiration than perhaps any other leader in recent memory, but that wasn't always the case. he didn't become a global household name until the 1980s when he had already spent two decades in prison. cnn's michelle turner has the story of the star-studded concert that helped raise

awareness for his cause. >> this is all generated for one man that none of us has ever met, nelson mandela. [ cheers ] >> reporter: in 1988, nelson mandela was behind bars in south africa when a collection of musicians and celebrities coming together in london to call for his release sent a message around the world. >> nelson mandela! ♪ >> well, it was a 11 1/2-hour broadcast to 600 million people. there were only 5 billion in the world. to get that, we not on had to sell the program to 67 countries, we had to give it away to 30 african countries that wanted to broadcast it. >> reporter: the promoter organized the all-stash 70th birthday tribute. his goal was to change the way some referred to the jailed leader. >> the run-up to the first ever broadcast, it was still possible for margaret thatcher as prime minister of england to stand up in the house of commons and ask

the question in public, how is it that the bbc can be broadcasting an event for a terrorist? and that's how powerful that word was. and the apartheid regime knew it, if they could label him as a terrorist, they could keep him in prison. ♪ talk about a revolution and i said, you can't get a black terrorist leader out of the prison. we have to get rid of one word, like terrorist. >> reporter: he recruited wh whitney houston and peter gabriel, figuring it could change the conversation. >> at that point in time, in 1980, the whole of the music industry was very, very powerful. it was big. it was big on television. and so, by then, helping to come on board, it allowed this instrument that we had to project his image across the world. >> that the whole world is watching. >> reporter: in the aftermath of

the broadcast, as the pressure that would ultimately free mandela mounted on the south african government, hollingsworth got a letter from his concert partners, the african national congress and the anti-apartheid movement. >> dear tornny, certainly it marks a landmark, the greatest single event we have undertaken in support of the struggle. now we can certainly look forward to the future enormously received revived hope. >> it's the best party we've ever been to. thanks for having us. >> reporter: michelle turner, cnn, new york. >> the producer, hollingsworth, produced a follow-up concert in 1990. the newly freed mandela attended in person and thanked all of the af artists involved in the original concert, saying he believed it was that event that led to him being released from prison. president george w. bush turned to painting. that's right, he finished this ornament for christmas. nice work, mr. president.

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make the most of every moment. ask your dermatologist about humira, today. clearer skin is possible. our last president left the white house to become a painter, but president obama is hoping sports will fill his time after washington. here's the score. the president apparently hosting sport% center's top ten list. "the hollywood reporter" said that's what he told bob iger at a recent private dinner. disney, of course, owns espn. iger's response, he reportedly got a good giggle. it's the biggest sporting event in the world. not talking about the olympics or super bowl, but the fifa cup. it kicks off next summer in brazil with the world watching some big brands are trying to score a piece of the action. cnn international correspondent jim bolden joins us with a look at the business of the world

cup. hi, jim. >> reporter: christine, national soccer teams the world over spent two years fighting for a place in the world cup finals next year in brazil. and big brands, many of them american, compete with each other to spend millions of dollars to be associated with it. as teams from countries the world over were fighting for one of the coveted 32 spots, big global brands were battling it out to be associated with the fifa world cup, estimated by some at a cost of $100 million each to be an official sponsor. >> when you're talking to companies which are looking to have a global exposure, world cup is the platform where you have global exposure. >> reporter: when it comes to current sponsors for fifa, it's visa, not mastercard. adidas, not nike. mcdonald's, not burger king. coca-cola, not pepsi. >> the fifa world cup is the

pinnacle. >> reporter: for coke, the world cup is key. >> in 2010, the campaign was the biggest ever marketing plan for brand coke ever, and the ambition is to go higher. >> reporter: coke estimates some $2 billion people were actively, quote, engaged with the 2010 world cup in south africa. not just watching a match or two. their goal, says coke, attracting teenagers. brand experts say global corporations are often associated with other big sporting events, as well. >> if you sponsor things like the world cup, the champions league, you have the add in the super bowl, effectively, you're saying we are a big, great, brand, you should aspire to be associated with us, you should want our products. >> reporter: and if you aren't there, your competitor will be. >> this is the number-within passion for latin america, for europe. it's more than just a sport. it's about culture. you have to be there. you have to go and own that space.

>> reporter: that space also goes totally against a new trend of niche marketing, and there's going to be wasting there. not everyone will be drinking coke, whatever it might be. >> reporter: though for the brands, it's not about selling a specific product. it's about your brand basking in the glow of the super bowl, or the olympics, or the fifa world cup. brazil was a no-brainer for these big companies, but the next world kun is in russia in 2018, and then qatar in 2022, both hugely controversial destinations. will companies fall over themselves to be associated with the world cup after next year? christine? >> all right. so interesting. thanks, jim. coming up at 2:00 p.m. eastern today, the jobless rate, lowest in five years. but in this low-wage economy, tips -- tips are more important

than ever. here's a quiz for you. which job gets the best tips? waiter? bartender? gaming dealer? or is it none of the above? the answer at 2:00 p.m. eastern. we'll see you then. started sliding sideways, and got real close to the house, and i thought, well, better stop and get a wrecker out here. >> an ice storm freezes the south just as a new storm is preparing to shock the northeast. cars swerve down street, cities paralyzed and hundreds of thousands of people without power. >> very glad to be on my way home. >> first thing, what would you like to do? >> go home and see my wife. >> coming home. new this morning, an american detained in north korea since october is on a flight back to the united states. his journey, his first